An overdue update

Gaah! I got ordered to write something again... I know, I know, it's been ages since last time but I've been busy living life instead of writing about it here. Well.. actually I'm just lazy.

So.. what's been happening then? Well, lots of Uni assignments and lots of parties. My weeks all pretty much look the same: Mondays and Tuesdays I study and work on assignments because they're my days off. On Wednesdays I have Culture, Media and Society tute and lecture, as well as Media Law tute and lecture. Then on Thursday I have Writing for the Web and that's when I sit and do my own thing in Flash instead of following the teacher... I got a HD in my first assignment so it seems to be working. Then on Thursday evenings we go to the Tavern and have a few drinks, meet guys and just plain have fun. Sometimes this doesn't bode well for my 10am Screen Business lecture on Fridays... But I've only missed it once! So not too bad. And I've never missed a single tute later on on Fridays. Often there's something happening on Friday evening too so we go out again. And then again on Saturday... So weekends are spent mainly having fun and being hung over.

In between all of that we do manage to sunbathe, swim in the pool, take trips to Byron Bay, shop, eat and sleep. No wonder the weeks just fly by! There's always something to do.

I really don't want my time down here to end...

Wednesday blues

So... Today we we're going to go to a BBQ at the Uni Village but then we got the call that there was no BBQ tonight. We were actually looking forward to it. We had had a boring day at school learning nothing new so a night out was just what we needed.

After getting the call we both were a bit bummed but decided to go out anyway. We started googling for bars and pubs in our area but sadly it seems pretty devoid of such amenities. I asked one of my "local contacts" and he said the Cavern is awesome so that's where were going! But not tonight... It's too late already. :/ Saturday will be our paaaaartey day this week.

Anyways, kinda bummed and bored at the moment... Oh well, elämä on as we Finns say.

The best things about Australia (so far):

• Tim Tams (oh sooo yummy!)
• The men. There's just too many good looking ones! Moro!!
  
• The pool in the backyard
• "Winter"
• The friendly people
• UK TV and CMC - The County Music Channel
• and of course Keith Urban.
  

Finally a real post!

I'm so sorry I haven't written anything in such a long time. It's just that the internet connection here is so slow and we always have something better to do than sit and wait for pages to load. The twitter feed here on the right side is updated more regularly. Be sure to check out my Twitter page too.

So, anyways what have we been up to in this land down under? Well, we've been to the school a couple times for various reasons other than actual classes. Those don't start until about a week from now. Apart from visiting the school we've spent a lot of time by our pool. It's crazy to have a pool in your backyard! With palm trees and exotic birds all around! There are some truly beautiful birds flying around, and making some very odd noises. Other than that we haven't seen many wild animals. Mari's still waiting for the big snake or crocodile to crawl into the yard but I'm quite sure that that won't happen since we don't live near the bush.

When we're not sunbathing or shopping for various essentials, we're out and about in Surfers Paradise. Surfers is the local hot spot for clubs and bars. It's also the most touristy place ever. Luckily there aren't many tourists there yet since it's the middle of winter. I can't imagine how packed it'll be in the summer. I shudder at the mere thought of it. Despite that it seems to be the only place to find a cluster of bars and young people. Last Friday we watched a couple bands at the Hard Rock Cafe and drank a couple drinks, and even some beer. Mari likes it there because the staff are quite a hot bunch of rockers. After closing time (a little past 12 I suppose) we walked out of there and ended up going to O'Malleys with a couple guys we met on the way. They were from up north and quite alright. At O'Malleys I met a great girl, Kerryn, in the bathroom and ended up spending the rest of the night with her and her friend Luke, and his friends. Hopefully I'll hear from them again. All in all it was a great night and it still amazes me how friendly the Aussies are!

Yesterday Mari and I both were a little hungover so we just stayed by the pool and then watched tv all night, until Merv came home and dragged us to a bar nearby. He truly is the most fun landlord you could imagine. I'm so glad we chose to move in here.

And so today has been a fairly laid back day by the pool. It's a hard life isn't it? ;)

Until next time, Jösses Manboobs!!

First post from Down Under!

This will be a short post as I have nothing to say. Well, I can't be bothered to think, that's really it. We're sitting in our new apartment. It's pretty fancy. Got internet, Foxtel tv, a massage chair, a massive kitchen with a huge fridge, a huge living room with a flatscreen and enormous sofa, a pool and a spa, and a beautiful bathroom. Too good to be true? Nah. :D Pics will be up shortly. ;)

The weather isn't the best at the moment but the weekend should be good. The orientation period for school starts next Monday so we have time to really get settled. We've been walking loads and our backs and feet and legs are a mess. XD But it's all worth it.

Oh and the plane ride over was horrendous, but we survived!

The farewell parties are over

I can't believe it. We're actually leaving on Tuesday. How crazy is that?? I feel excited, sad, stressed, nervous and scared all at the same time. It'll be terrible leaving all my friends behind, but hopefully at least some of them will be able to come visit us.

Now I really should be packing, but for some reason I just can't put my mind to it. I'm so unprepared... I need more time!!!

Hurrah!!

Fantabulous news today! Keith Urban will be touring in Australia in December!!! I am so going to both Brisbane shows!!!

Oh and also, got mail from the Gold Coast Student Guild; temporary accommodation and airport reception is arranged!

In other news: I'M INCREDIBLY NERVOUS!

3 weeks to go

I can't believe it! Tomorrow it'll be three weeks until we board that plane for Australia! Well, actually our first stop will be London, but we won't count that. My stomach has already started protesting and it won't stop until we get on the plane, or at least that's what I hope.

I should probably start thinking about what I'm going to take with me but for some reason the mere thought of packing scares me. I just can't fathom how I'll be able to survive a year with only 15 kg of stuff! The clothes don't matter but leaving all my CDs and DVDs behind won't be easy. I'll have to try to cram as much as I can onto an external HD so I won't get Doctor Who withdrawals. Not to mention Keith Urban, Rufus Wainwright, Torchwood, The Mighty Boosh, Monty Python, The Monkees, Billy Joel.. and oh the list goes on.

What I also have to do is get the damn mic working on my computer. But it seems Linux and ATI just do not mix and despite hours of work I'm still pretty much at square one. However, I did get the webcam working so I guess that's positive.

Not only am I counting the days until we go, I'm also counting the days left at work. I'm going to be so glad to get out of that place! Today I spent three hours wrestling with the glue machine (a machine that folds and glues one piece of paper into an envelope) while dreaming about the day I never have to see that thing again. It's evil. It really is. I do, however, feel sorry for the people I leave behind. They're going to have a hard time without me, and I'm not saying that because I think highly of myself but the fact of the matter is I'm very good at what I do and we're already under staffed as it is. The bosses don't see it though, and me leaving will make the rest of the summer tough on the department if they don't get more help and new machines soon.

Oh dear, this almost turned into a rant about work. I do apologize. I guess it's best to call it a post and head over to the couch and watch a bit of tv.

Time for an update!

Well, it seems I have a student visa now. I applied for one on Monday at about 1 pm and got it at around 7 pm. That's some fast action. I thought I'd have to go see a doctor and get a chest x-ray and wait for a month. But nooo, it was much much easier. Imagine that! Though I'm still a bit wary... What if I get an e-mail saying I haven't fulfilled all the requirements or something??

Nothing is in the way of me and Mari going to Australia now... Incredible!

Finally!

Today the CoE finally came! This means I now can apply for a student visa. Mari doesn't have access to the Internet this weekend so we'll do it on Monday together.

How exciting!

WTF happened???

I know I should be happy that Adam didn't win because now he has more freedom, but I still believe he was robbed. As I read somewhere; America is scared of Adam. He's just too out there, too good, too androgynous.

Anyways, I'll be looking forward to Adam's first album, one in a line of maaaany, I'm sure.

Kris did a good job dueting with Keith, but I would rather have seen Keith on his own.

I'm hooked!

Still going a bit off topic but I just haven't been able to stop listening to Adam Lambert's studio version of The Tracks of My Tears. It's just amazing!



About Australia I can say this: no Confirmation of Enrolment yet! The wait is killing me!!

American Idol finale

I know this is a little off topic but I just have to write about it. This week is the finale for season 8 of American Idol and there is no doubt who should win. Adam Lambert has been the most consistent, entertaining and just plain amazing contestant this year (or any year for that matter). Ever since I saw his audition I knew he would go far. For evidence of his superiority just check out these videos of the contestants' performances.

But will he win? I do not know... The American public might be a bit too close minded for such a flamboyant performer to win. His competition Kris Allen, also a very good singer, is a clean-cut, boy next door type, Christian missionary who is already married (he's only 23). Sadly this will probably lead to people voting on the basis of that and not singing ability. No doubt there are people out there who prefer Kris's singing and that is as it should be, but as the judges have stated many times Adam is far superior to any of the other contestants this year.

In all honesty though, it doesn't matter if Adam wins or not, he is a star already and has an amazing career in front of him, no matter what the outcome.

What really annoys me now is that Keith Urban will be performing with Kris on the finale, even though Keith has said he was blown away by Adam's disco night performance. I'd prefer him performing alone, or with Adam... But I suppose the producers have something to do with it...

And so we have a departure date!

At 8 this morning Mari and I went to the local police station to get our new passports.Then after work Mari came over and we booked plane tickets to Brisbane! We're leaving on June 30th and traveling through London and Abu Dhabi. This is so exciting I'm about to burst! Now let's just keep our fingers crossed that we get visas...

Don't Stop Me Now!

Man I love that song. I feel like singing it at the top of my lungs all the time now. The preparations are going well, I've paid the tuition fee for the first semester plus the OSHC fee (healthcare) and sent in papers to KELA for student benefits. We've also been to the police and applied for new passports. The pictures didn't turn out so great (when do they ever??) but the new passports will be ready next Monday.

Still can't believe it's all really happening... Amazing!

Don't stop me now
I'm having such a good time
I'm having a ball
Don't stop me now
If you wanna have a good time
Just give me a call...

Ah, Queen. Don't you think that song would make a perfect Doctor Who or Casanova fan video? I can just see David Tennant running around being gorgeous with I'm a sex machine, ready to reload blaring in the background. Oh yes. Off to YouTube to see if there already is one...

Sunburned Country

As you can tell from the title of this blog I'm a big fan of Keith Urban, so here's a little song by him and fellow Aussie Olivia Newton-John in honour of our impending trip to Australia, "the sunburned country".

2 months to go

I can't believe I'm going to Australia in only two months. In fact if we take the cheapest route we've found so far and leave on June 30th we'll be Australia in exactly two months. The course won't start until July 27th but we have to be there for orientation on July 13th, and because they suggest we get there earlier to get the lay of the land and organise a place to stay we'll be there quite a bit in advance.

Before we get that far there's still a lot to take care of. This coming week will be very busy. I have to get a new passport, apply for all kinds of benefits from KELA, accept the offer from Griffith and pay the tuition fee for one semester and take the necessary papers to Kilroy Education (the agent helping us with all of this). Once all that's done and I've gotten confirmation from the uni I can apply for a student visa. Oh and then there's the plane ticket, have to buy that too, before the prices go up too much. The best thing would've been to buy them six months in advance, but that was pretty much impossible.

And here I am wasting my time blogging about everything I have to do, instead of doing it... Though there's not much I can do at the moment since it's Saturday...

And there was much rejoicing!

I GOT INTO GRIFFITH!!! MASTER OF ARTS AND MEDIA!!! WOOT! :D

Ah, enough shouting but this truly is glorious news! I had given up on hearing anything this week and then suddenly I got the offer in my inbox. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted and I can finally start planning the trip for real. But now it is bedtime, I have to get up in... let's see... 6 hours and 20 minutes. Oh joy.

Good night!

Scared to death

No news from Griffith yet. What if I don't get in? Will they even notify me?? What if Mari now accepts her Griffith offer and we end up in completely different cities??

I hate this.

Problems have arisen!

Well... this whole week has been a right pain. It began very nicely with both Mari and I getting offer letters from Monash and Mari also getting one form LaTrobe. Then the bad news hit us. Mari's offer lapse date from Monash is one week from today so she pretty much has to accept it now and pay for the first semester right away. If Monash had been our first choice it wouldn't be a problem but since Griffith is the one we want to go to the most, it's a bit tricky. Just before I left work today Mari sent me an e-mail saying she'd gotten into Griffith but I haven't heard a thing from either Griffith or LaTrobe. What if Mari now skips Monash and I don't get into Griffith?? My Bachelor's degree is a bit of an odd one so they're probably having a hard time deciding if I have the necessary qualifications or not. All this stress is killing me! I really would like to hear from Griffith right away!

What if I end up in Melbourne all alone??

A little history

Since we've gotten this far on the way to beginning our studies in Australia I thought I might just give a little background on the whole process.

It all began when I started thinking about going abroad after I finished my first degree (Bachelor of Engineering, Media Technology). At first I considered going to London but then Mari who had long been thinking about Australia suggested that I come with her Down Under. So I went and spoke to Kilroy Education and started searching for appropriate courses and universities to apply to. During this time I was still working on my degree thesis and desperately trying to get it done on time. Luckily, I survived that struggle and got my degree a couple months ago.

Finishing my degree was, however, not the only thing standing in my way of Australia. I also had to take an IELTS exam to prove that I had the necessary English skills to attend a postgraduate course at a university in Australia. That was one hell of a stressful thing to do. The speaking part of the exam was especially nerve wrecking, but again, I survived it and even got a fairly high overall score of 8.5 out of 9.

After getting the IELTS results and having my degree certificate (officially) translated into English (bloody hell that was expensive!), oh and writing three different personal statements, I was ready to send in my applications.

A little over two weeks has passed since that time and both Mari and I have already gotten one offer each. It seems our plans are actually coming together and we can now start getting ready for the next step, but that is a whole other story, and a long one at that.

Quick update!

I got an offer letter from Monash University today! And Mari got one from La Trobe!

Still waiting for Griffith though... The one we both really want to go to!

Premature planning?

Guess what I'm doing? I'm looking at Internet, Pay TV and mobile phone service providers in Australia. Perhaps it's a bit too early, seeing as we haven't even been accepted yet... But these are important things and I don't want to be unprepared. Alright so maybe the Pay TV one is a bit unnecessary but it'd be nice to have some cool channels to watch.. Like CMC (Country Music Channel) and Sci Fi. But I'm gonna have to speak with Mari about that one since we're sharing the costs... Hopefully she'll agree to an Internet package with a fairly big download quota, I'm gonna need to get my Doctor Whos and Torchwoods downloaded!

Anyways I'll just put this useful link here for my own benefit:

http://youcompare.com.au/ - compare Internet, Pay TV and mobile phone service providers.

What is this supposed to be??

I guess I'll start with an introduction. My name is Mikaela but people call me Kela. This blog was created for the sole purpose of writing down memories and stuff about my (so far only planned) year/years in Australia. It's exactly two weeks since Kilroy Education sent the applications to Griffith University, La Trobe and Monash. Starting a blog about it already might be a bit too optimistic but hey I'm allowed to be a little optimistic, right? Deep down I'm terrified of something not working out though... But I'm trying to stifle those feelings...

I'm not going alone though, my friend Mari is coming along with me and if she wants she'll be able to write here as well. We might be posting in three different languages, English, Swedish and Finnish all jumbled up.

Anyways, that's enough of an introduction. Now lunch!